Should I Become a Medical Assistant?

Find out if this career makes sense for you

If you are looking into job training, you have probably heard about becoming a medical assistant. In fact, you have probably met a medical assistant at your own doctor’s office. But what exactly is a medical assistant, and would this career be right for you?

A medical assistant is a healthcare professional who assists doctors with a variety of important responsibilities. They typically are responsible for setting up patient appointments, calling patients back into the exam rooms, taking and recording vital signs, discussing the patient’s medical history, and maintaining electronic health records.

Medical assistants are valuable to the healthcare industry because they do important work that keeps medical offices running smoothly. By taking care of welcoming patients, measuring their vital signs, and preparing them to see the physician, medical assistants save the doctors and nurses valuable time.

Is medical assisting right for you?

How do you know if you would like a medical assistant career? Some of the key traits of medical assistants include:

1. A desire to help others Anyone who enters the healthcare field should have a true desire to help others. Every day you will be working with patients who require your help. The more you enjoy helping others, the more gratification you will get from this sort of job.

2. An interest in health-related topics At medical assistant training programs, you will need to learn about human anatomy and physiology, as well as medical terminology. You do not need any prior experience to get into the program, but it’s important that you care about what makes the human body tick.

3. Organizational skills Being a medical assistant will require that you take an organized approach to your work. You will learn step by step protocols—like how to measure blood pressure or how to administer an EKG—and you will need to be organized enough to conduct these procedures systematically.

4. Communication skills Communicating with both your patients and your supervising physician will be an important part of the job. Patients need to understand what is expected of them, and physicians will need to know what you have already done with and for the patient. Be sure to document everything you do carefully in the patients’ records.

If you feel like you may have these traits, then maybe this career path could be one to explore. People choose this field for a number of reasons. Some of the benefits include:

The training program lasts just about one year

Your medical assisting skills are portable to other medical institutions

There is a wide range of places to find work, from private doctors’ offices to large medical systems

You get to interact with patients on an everyday basis, which can be gratifying

You get to work in a professional environment in a respectable industry

To learn more about this career field, try 5 Things to Know about Becoming a Medical Assistant. Here at the Harris School of Business, we are proud to offer medical assisting training programs at many of our campuses near Philadelphia, Wilmington, Dover, Trenton, Cherry Hill, Voorhees, and Linwood near Atlantic City. If you are interested in the training programs at the Harris School of Business, visit our programs page to find a medical assistant training program near you.